Of Sunsets and Samurai
by Dealing With It Now
Summary: Results of the author trying the music writing meme. Pairings include: Optimus/Blackarachnia, Prowl/Bee, Prowl/Jazz, Starscream/Blitzwing, and Starscream/Megatron. Other characters involved, too. Rated T for safety. Majority are Animated and o7movieverse.
1. 9 Crimes

**A/N**: These are just the drabbles that came out when I did the writer's music meme. Author's notes are now clean.

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**9 Crimes - Damien Rice**  
Transformers: Animated - Optimus Prime/Blackarachnia

Blackarachnia watched the blazing sun set behind Earth's horizon, bitterly enjoying the spectacle.

What was she supposed to do? She hadn't expected Optimus' reaction this last time they had met. Did he not understand that they were on different sides now? Was he so naïve to believe that just because he would spare her life didn't mean she would do the same for him?

She looked at her sharp frame, admiring how dangerous she had become. But could she really hurt him when they met again? She wanted to, she _needed _to, but he didn't fight back. And that infuriated her, it made her just as weak as he was.

Turning away from the death of the day, she knew that this wasn't what she was supposed to be thinking about. There was no point in worrying about it. But, still, she couldn't help herself.


	2. What Do You Think About That?

**What Do You Think About That - Montgomery Gentry**  
post-o7movieverse - Ironhide, Ratchet, Lambo twins

The sounds of complaints came from down the hallway, catching the attention of the resident CMO of the Autobot base. He looked up from what he had been working on and walked to the entrance of the medbay in time to see the twins walking by, whining about something to themselves.

"What are you two complaining about now," he asked sharply, the two Lamborghinis shooting him a glance.

"Ironhide took the large room at the end of the hall. He's shoved all of the weapons Captain Lennox got for him into it, claiming he needs the space," Sunstreaker replied, just as short in tone.

"Well, if he needs the space-"

"But isn't that what the armory's for? We need to get two berths into one room, 'cuz Pit if we're separating, and we've had our eye there for a while…" Sideswipe interrupted the medic, garnering no sympathy from the irritated Ratchet.

The CMO turned back into the medbay, not caring to listen to the complaints. "Ironhide's going to do what he wants, and I don't think he's going to give a slag what anyone else thinks about it. So you might want to stop wasting your time whining about it and maybe staking out the next largest quarters before someone else does?" he sat back down at his desk, returning his attention to what he had been working on.

The two twins looked at each other before hurrying off to find different quarters to claim, wisely taking the medic's advice.


	3. It's the Fear

**It's the Fear - Within Temptation**  
pre-o7movieverse - Megatron

The reflective surface shattered as his extracted claws pounded against its surface, destroying his image but not killing the monster it revealed.

The tyrant never imagined how far he would be willing to take this, how many lives he would destroy to keep his own fears at bay.

He knew he was losing the battle, it wouldn't be long until everything he was would be swallowed by his craving for power. How long ago was it that he had simply enjoyed the peace that cloaked Cybertron?

But it wasn't his fault. No, he wasn't to blame. It was everyone else. Those he felt obliged to protect, they'd turned him into this.

He wanted power, he wanted to be strong. He needed to protect, that was his purpose. And he would let his fear of losing himself drive him mad if it meant he could be strong enough.

But once he had the power, would he even remember _what_ he was supposed to protect?


	4. Butterfly

**Butterfly - Ayumi Hamasaki  
**Animated - implied, one-sided Bumblebee/Prowl

Bumblebee clicked a few more buttons on the monitor, bringing up the images Bulkhead had recorded. He hadn't believed it when he had first been told. But there was undeniable proof, right here on the screen he was staring at!

While he and Sari had been 'investigating' the amusement park, there had obviously been some turmoil they had managed to miss. According to what his large green friend had told him, Prowl had taken a liking to some strange mods…

Bee almost laughed, but stopped himself. Prowl looked good in the 'samurai' getup, he had to admit. Bulkhead had known he would get a hoot of the idea, so he had saved some of the images to hard drive.

"What are you looking at?" a voice drawled as it turned the corner into the media room.

Bumblebee jumped, "Prowl! Oh, uh, nothing!" He closed out of every window he had been browsing, bringing the swirling colored screen back to view

"Hm," the ninjabot gave him a look before proceeding to his own quarters to do whatever he did in there.

'_Phew_…' The scout relaxed in his chair as Prowl walked away, none the wiser. No need for him to know how he had been admiring the samurai appearance.


	5. Speeding Cars

**Speeding Cars - Imogen Heap  
**pre-o7movieverse - implied Optimus Prime/Megatron

Optimus watched the dark shadow storm away, coming to accept that this was the first time he gazed upon him as an enemy.

Such small things, arguments that had piled onto each other unresolved, opinions that conflicted too violently. They had added up, and now the Allspark was the matter that shattered them.

Neither one of them was blameless, and their world would be eaten away by this war that he could have prevented. If he had only relented, if he allowed Megatron to see what he wanted and do what he felt was right even though it was horribly wrong… Maybe then they wouldn't have been so fragile, and maybe he could have saved them.

He told himself that, but somewhere in his Spark he knew that there would have been no stopping it. He knew it wasn't his fault.

But it felt better to blame anything, even if it was himself. It made everything seem just a little less final.


	6. Gravity

**Gravity - Maaya Sakamoto  
**Animated - Optimus Prime/Blackarachnia

The sky was decorated in random patterns of stars, their light contrasting so perfectly with the darkness that always threatened to swallow them.

Blackarachnia wondered which one of the stars could be Cybertron. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt her home planet's ground beneath her feet, but she wouldn't allow herself to yearn for it.

"You miss it too," the statement came from behind her. She started, looking back quickly.

Optimus stood at a distance, watching her as she watched the sky. She turned back around, not wanting to start their vicious cycle again.

"Of course not," she lied, knowing that her false reply was transparent. She didn't care. If he wanted to watch her, then let him. She wouldn't admit that having him near her made her feel closer to home than she had in stellar cycles. She fought his gravity, not allowing it to attract her, but needing to let herself fall.


	7. Paralyzer

**Paralyzer - Finger Eleven  
**G1/AU - implied/possibly one-sided Jazz/Prowl

The club's music pounded mercilessly against the officer's audio processors as he tried to remember who it was that convinced him to come to this Primus forsaken place.

He rubbed his temples, draining his first cube of energon while the group next to him burst into a fit of drunken laughter only barely audible in wake of the raucous music.

Turning in his seat away from the bar, he tried to pay attention to the mechs dancing on the floor. It was hard to see anything with the lights flashing and he was disoriented as it was. He scanned the perimeter of the club, hoping for an exit.

Before he could find a way out, though, his optics fell on a silver mech moving on the floor with a defined grace that he could barely guarantee was possible. No Cybertronian should have been able to move with such ease in such elegantly _disturbing_ ways. He shook his head. Only _he _could find such a display disturbing.

"Jazz?" he recognized his colleague and a small smile curved onto his lip components. He knew the saboteur loved music, but he had never watched him _move_ to that music. Jazz caught his gaze briefly, never ceasing his dancing, waving his hand to beckon the cruiser onto the floor. Prowl's smile widened as he shook his head in a predictable 'no', watching the saboteur shrug and continue.

But his grin quickly fell. Just another example of how vastly different he and Jazz were. The saboteur was so desperately out of his reach, he didn't even understand why Jazz bothered associating with someone as 'stiff' as he was. The silver mech would always move around him, past him.

The saboteur's entire being gleamed of something Prowl couldn't believe he had missed. Oh, how he wanted to go home.

He turned back to the bar. "I'll have another," he grumbled with a defeated sigh, offering his empty cube.


	8. Rewind

**Rewind - Pillar**  
Animated : pre-"Transform and Roll Out!" - implied Megatron/Starscream, Blitzwing/Starscream

The sound of air vents hitching in a snore caught Blitzwing's attention as he was returning to his own quarters to recharge. It had come from the frontal hub of the _Nemesis_, but who would still be in there during the designated recharge time?

He frowned and turned the corner into the large room, his curiosity getting the better of him. Looking around, he didn't immediately see anything. But the vents hitched again, and he moved in their direction.

He was surprised to find the sleeping form of Starscream in his designated seat to the left and behind Megatron's throne of a chair. Datapads lay scattered along the lines of controls in front of his seat, their information glowing brightly in the comparative darkness of the room.

"Hm, what were you doing in here?" his cold persona was interested, despite himself, and he carefully eased the datapad held loosely in the seeker's claws away from him.

His optic blinked as he read an article that was archived vorns ago regarding one of the Decepticons' first attacks on an Autobot facility during the Great War. An image accompanied the textual information, a picture that was undoubtedly Megatron with a viciously grinning seeker beside him.

The triple changer looked from the image to the recharging Starscream in the seat, having to check twice before affirming that they were indeed the same mech. The smile of the seeker in the picture was filled with wicked glee, a happiness that seemed to escape his present-day counterpart. He wondered when Starscream had stopped grinning like that. The only smile to be worn by him now was always sarcastic, never truly happy.

Placing the datapad down along with the others scattered on the desk, he noticed the others were all similar articles. Excerpts from pre-War and early-War reports, all of them containing images of Megatron or the younger Starscream, or both.

Blitzwing couldn't help a lazy smile, "Someone experiencing a little nostalgia, hm?" The seeker only snored again, slightly shifting in his chair.


	9. Falling

**Falling - Emmy Rossum**  
Animated - Jazz/Prowl

Exiting his room huffily, Prowl immediately caught the attention of a certain yellow 'bot.

"Hey, Prowl, aren't you supposed to be meditating or whatever you do usually?" the scout followed after the dark mech, blatantly missing the aggravated vibe.

"No point today," he replied tersely, "I'm having difficulty concentrating."

Bumblebee didn't hide his surprise, "Wow, that's new for you. What's got you distracted?"

The ninjabot shot him a glare. "None of your business, really," his tone remained short.

"'Kay, just asking," the smaller Autobot took heed of the warning this time, not able to play dumb to the irritated mood anymore. Something from the rec room seemed to catch his attention, and Prowl heard Bulkhead's voice. The scout quickly departed from the dark mech's presence.

Prowl released a pent-up sigh, continuing in his straight direction. He exited the base, and decided to try meditating outside. Maybe in a tree. That would be nice.

After a few minutes, he situated himself in a tree in the park, hoping that no one would bother him. The chances were unlikely, but maybe he'd get lucky.

His thoughts continued to wander, however, and he found it impossible to concentrate on wiping his mind. It was driving him crazy, these thoughts, but what could he do? Would he never find another moment's peace unless he acted on them? Pit, like he would ever admit what was on his mind!

That was when he heard voices approaching, and the unmistakable footfalls of something larger than a human. He onlined his optics, his world upside down while hanging downwards in the tree.

He was greeted with the sight of Optimus and Jazz, walking and talking about something. He didn't care to figure out what, and he quickly withdrew into the tree's boughs, his sparkbeat racing.

He needed to relax. His air intakes started to calm as he relaxed himself, just relax…

Prowl ended up relaxing a little too much, and he lost his balance on the tree branch. He felt himself falling before he actually realized.

Earth's trees were so small, so the fall hurt his pride more than anything else. He quickly collected himself on the ground, looking up and feeling his face plates warming.

Jazz tilted his head in concern, watching the dark mech on the ground. "Hey, you alright?" The Elite Guard 'bot looked from Prowl to the tree and realized the fall hadn't been that bad. He grinned and extended a hand to help his fellow ninjabot up.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," he stuttered, hesitantly accepting the hand. "Short fall."

Optimus smiled, "Well, I think I'll be heading back. You two want to talk for a little bit?" He turned, quite aware of the glare Prowl had given him. But he knew when he was a fifth wheel.


	10. Gone Forever

**Gone Forever - Three Days Grace**  
Animated : within "Transform and Roll Out!" - implied Starscream/Megatron (or not)

Starscream sat in the throne of the _Nemesis_, the central seat he seemed to have always coveted. Now he couldn't really understand why, it was no more comfortable than the one he had always occupied. With no one else there, it was much less of a status symbol.

He frowned bitterly. He finally managed to dispose the mech he despised more than anyone else in the universe, and now he was utterly alone. It was what he had always anticipated, really. But, when others joined them, though, he had schemed further, planning his own uprising.

If there was one thing Megatron seemed to be right about, it was the fact that his dreams always seemed too grand for him to accomplish.

Why did he always do that to himself?

He pounded a curled fist into the arm of the throne, another dent to add onto the many that already existed.

"Are you happy, in your little Pit-hole wherever you are!?" he shouted at the walls, the need to scream destroying his pride and frail sanity. "You were right about just damn near everything!"

His lips suddenly curved into a twisted smile, following the same formula to the dot, "Oh maybe not everything. Heh, you're gone, but I'm still here. I won." He cackled into the darkness, finding some hilarity in this idea he had already come to realize on multiple occasions.

"Gone forever, you're gone!" his smile persisted through his laughter. "I never needed you here. So much better, now that you're gone."

He readjusted his position on the throne, crossing one leg over the other. His claws began to drum against the arm he had just dented, playing a rhythm he had grown far too comfortable with. Had he tapped it out before?

"So much better. So happy, happy, happy," he chimed, deliriously glad, before his systems slowed into recharge. His optics dimmed, leaving the room completely dark.


End file.
